Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1887-08-13
TURKISH FUNERAL RrrrA
Death and Burial In the Land Of the Gre

cent
1t Turk dies or look as II b
were dead. NO physician, no inspectc
comes to make sure that death hs
really taken place; but if it has not tn
TACT will soon established, thanks {
procedure more efficient than all tn
gentle and refined means in vogue i
the West to make sure that the d.
ceased is not hoaxing his heirs.
Scarcely has the last breath BEEF
taken when the corpse is lifted u
violently by vigorous arms, says Emil
Julliard in the Cosmopolitan, tn
clothing snatched off, laid on the fsg
stones In the mortuary chamber o
vestibule and sprinkled with hot water
which is thrown upon it by the imam
provided with q large pail TIL.
sprinkling is repeated two or tire,
times, 30 that the family runs littl,
danger of seeing the deceased resusci
tated.
Thus scalded as preliminary step
the body is washed and dried Then il
is bepowdered with camphor, and
after being covered with a cloth EN-.
broidered with verses from the Koran
it is exposed for several hours in the
courtyard. Afterward the imam re.
turns and accompanies the corpse to its
last resting place.
The fiat, covered bier is usually
carried on the shoulders of friends OF
the deceased, or upon those of hired
pall-bearers. Sometimes strangers as
sumo this duty gratuitouslv, looking
upon it as pious and meritorious act.
The cortege is made up only of those
that carry the coffin by turns, thus re-
ieving one another without stopping.
The coffin is made of cedar, and it is sell
dom vanished, but it is covered with a
rug or shawl, and there is placed at the
head a turban or fes if the deceased
is male.
The procession always moves hastily,
not for the purpose of getting rid of the
dismal burden, but to hasten the mo-
ment when deceased shall enjoy eternal
repose; for the Mussulman believes
that the soul is restless and unhappy as
long as the corpse is unburied. This
is why three or four hours only elapse
between death and burial.
On arriving at the cemetery the
imam so places the bier that the face
of the deceased is turned toward
Mecca; he then approaches the brink
of the grave and utters very long
prayer, the conclusion of which is as
follows: "Draw near Mounkir and
Nekir, angels of death and ministers of
Allah. Great and blessed God, we
beseech Thee to make the
earth light for Thy servant. May he
find grace and mercy with Thee.
Amen" A Christians prayer does not
say anything more nor any better.
According to the Koran the deceased
is the owner of his grave in perpetuity,
and the Objectionable system of sepul-
ture in rotation is unknown to the
and in Constantinople, in
Eyoub and Scutari, the room occupied
by cemeteries is almost as extensive as
that covered by dwellings. Within re-
cent years it has been found necessary,
in order to open roads that have been
much needed, to curtail and even sup
press some of the cemeteries, but it re-
CURED an express order from the Sui
tan, which made the ulemas utter the
wall of bigots.
The cypress is pre-eminently the
funeral three. Each tomb has to have
is own. And Turkish cemeteries be-
come gloomy forests in time, which i'm
part to certain Oriental landscapes an
aspect singularly stiff and somber. 1t
IS upon the seashore that these funeral
forests are found in the greatest abund-
ance; the trees, being nourished by the
soil fertilized by human remains, reach
! prodigious size and height The
argest and most celebrated of these
cemeteries is that of Scutari, upon the
Asiatic coast of the Bosphorus; it ex-
tends over an area more than six miles
square.
The tombstones are in the shape of
IN oval, wider at the top than the
bottom, and surmounted with turban
,r fez, the form of which. varying
greatly, indicates the rank of the de-
ceased. A gilt inscription in Turkish |
characters cut in relief on blue back
round gives the name and enumerates |
he virtues of deceased and implores |
livine mercy in his behalf. These
tones are sometimes perpendicular,
ometimes leaning very much. In the |
after case hole is dug at the base of |
he tomb, intended to catch rain for
he little birds that come to quench |
heir thirst.
The dead are not buried very deep,
nd it is strange that the custom does
lot cause more sickness than it does.
large proportion of the epidemics of
ysentery and typhoid fever that iii
ade the quarters of Constantinople
an be traced to this custom. The
roximity of the cadavers to the top of
be ground produces during the sum-
her night, particularly in swampy and
amp cemeteries, myriad of phos-
horescent lights, which dance and
it around the tombs, and those myriad
parks of fire, while inspiring the poets,
lso BRIGHTEN children.
Charmed by q Snake.
Wh,1o uo1L,no alone tho ros1roo1 |